Manually operable hospital bed with selectively positionable control



Nov. 1, 1966 ,1. F. STANLEY ETAL 3,281,873 MANUALLY OPERABLE HOSPITAL BED WITH SELECTIVELY POSITIONABLE CONTROL 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 31, 1965 MW. 1, W66

J. F. STANLEY ETAL 3,281,873 MANUALLY OPERABLE HOSPITAL BED WITH SELECTIVELY POSITIONABLE CONTROL Filed Aug. 31, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nlii l 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 1966 J. F. STANLEY ETAL MANUALLY OPERABLE HOSPITAL BED WITH SELECTIVELY POSITIONABLE CONTROL Filed Aug. 51. 1965 United States Patent Ofiice 3,281,873 Patented Nov. 1, 1966 3,281,873 MANUALLY OPERABLE HOSPITAL BED WITH SELECTIVELY POSITIONABLE CONTROL John F. Stanley, Whiting, and Ronald D. Dewey, Plover, Wis., assignors to .loerns Furniture Company, Stevens Point, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Aug. 31, 1965, Ser. No. 484,010 Claims. (Cl. 568) This invention relates in general to hospital beds and, more specifically, to manually operable beds with a bilow or vertically adjustable frame supporting an articulated spring having head and knee or foot sections independently adjustable or swingable between raised and lowered positions relative to the frame.

Such beds customarily employ three manually operable cranks located, respectively, at the center and adjacent the lower corner portions of the footboard, each of which may be rotated to effect one of the indicated adjustments. The nurse, orderly or other operator thus is required to assume and move between awkward and uncomfortable positions in effecting desired adjustments by means of the three cranks.

A principal object of this invention, therefore, is to avoid the usual difficulties encountered in operating such mechanism .and enable an operator to selectively effect any one of a plurality of hospital bed adjustments by means of a single manually operable crank conveniently located for maximum ease of operation.

This object is accomplished in the illustrated embodiment of the invention by providing a crank at approximately waist height at the footboard of the bed for rotating a shaft extending horizontally through the footboard and having a plurality of selectively operable sprockets rotatably mounted thereon for respectively effecting the different adjustments, such as hi-low, and movements of the head and knee sections of the spring, with a control member selectively movable longitudinally of the shaft to drivingly interconnect any one of the sprockets with the crank.

Another important object of the invention is to enable a doctors prescription or prohibition against certain otherwise available adjustments to be carried out effectively by looking out or rendering inoperative the mechanism for making the proscribed adjustments.

In the illustrated embodiment, this object of the invention is attained by means of a normally inoperative lockout knob which may be moved into engagement with the selectively movable control member to prevent movement of the latter from one adjusted position or to prevent movement of the control member into one of its selectively adjustable positions. Thus, for example, the control member may be locked in its hi-low position to prevent swinging adjustments of the spring sections, or it may be locked against movement into the hi-low position to prevent vertical movement of the bed frame from a selected position.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a skeletonized perspective view of a hospital bed embodying the features of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical detail section taken through the crank and selective control mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2 showing the selectively operable control member disposed in a different position;

FIG. 4 is a detail vertical section through one of the telescoping leg mechanisms;

FIG. 5 is a skeleton view similar to FIG. 1 with parts broken away to show the actuating mechanism for adjusting the knee action of the spring;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5 illustrating the hi-low actuating mechanism; and

FIG. 7 is a vertical detail section through the foldable handle of the operating crank.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1, a hospital or invalids bed is disclosed therein which comprises four supporting legs, indicated generally by reference numeral 11, and a vertically movable frame, generally designated by reference numeral 12, which is made up of four outer legs 13 telescopically mounted on the legs 11 and interconnected by means of the usual rail-type frame structure 14. Also secured in any suitable manner to tbisframe structure 14 are a headboard 15 and a footboard 16.

Mounted upon and supported by the frame structure 14 in well known manner is an articulated bed spring, designated generally by reference numeral 17, which comprises a head section 18 pivotally connected as at 19 to an intermediate section 21 secured to the frame structure; a knee section 22 pivotally connected to the intermediate section 21 at 23; and a foot section 24 pivotally connected at its inner end at 25 to the knee section 22 and slidably supported at its outer end in the usual manner on the frame structure 14.

Means are provided for actuating the knee and foot sections by raising and lowering their interconnecting pivots 25 which comprises a pair of brackets 26 (FIGS. 1 and 5) secured to the side rail members of the knee section 22 at their upper ends and to the ends of a transverse shaft 27 at their lower ends. Also secured to this shaft 27 and depending therefrom are a pair of lever arms 28, the lower ends of which are pivotally connected to the rear ends of a pair of parallel rails 29 extending forwardly therefrom and secured at their forward ends to a nut 31. The latter engages a horizontal screw 32 which is rotatably supported at its rear end in any suitable manner by the frame structure 14 and at its forward end is provided with a sprocket wheel 33. This sprocket wheel 33 is adapted to be rotated by an upper sprocket wheel 34 through the agency of an interconnecting chain 35 to move the nut 31 translationally on the screw 32. The resulting translational movements of the rails 29, through the agency of the levers 28, shaft 27 and brackets 26, will raise and lower the knee section 22 of the spring about its pivots '23. This also will cause the foot section 24 of the spring to be correspondingly moved through the agency of the pivots 25, with the outer end of that section 24 sliding on the frame structure 14. It will be appreciated, of course, that similar mechanism may be employed to move the foot section 24 up and down on its pivots 25 independently relative to the knee section 22.

Referring again to FIG. 1, similar means are provided for swinging the head section 18 of the bed spring up and down on its pivots 19 which comprises a pair of brackets 36 depending from and secured to the side rails of the head section 18 and attached at their lower ends arms 38 are secured at their upper ends to the shaft 37 and pivotally connected at their lower ends to a pair of parallel rails 39 which are secured at their forward ends to a nut 41 mounted on a screw 42. A sprocket wheel 43 is mounted on the forward end of the screw 42 for rotating the latter which, like the screw 32, is rotatably mounted at its rear end in any suitable manner in the frame structure 14. The sprocket 43 is adapted to be driven by an upper sprocket wheel 44 by means of a chain 45. As will be readily appreciated, rotation of the screw 42 will effect translational movements of the nut 41 that will be transmitted into swinging adjustments of the head section 18 of the bed spring through the agency 3 of the rails 39, crank arms 38, shaft 37 and brackets 36.

Hi-low adjustments of the frame 12 and the bed spring 17 are effected by an actuating means, generally similar to the spring section actuating means previously described, which comprises a screw 46 rotatably supported at its inner end by the frame structure 14 in any suitable manner and engaging with a nut 47 which is constrained against rotation and is slidably guided by the frame structure 14 by any well known arrangement. A sprocket wheel 48 is secured to the forward end of the screw 46 and is rotatable by an upper sprocket wheel 49 through the agency of a chain 51. Secured at their forward ends in any suitable manner to the nut 47 are two pairs of front and rear cables 52 for effecting vertical adjustments or movements of the frame 12 relative to its supporting legs 11. Each of the cables 52 passes around suitable horizontally disposed guide sheaves 53 and a vertically disposed sheave 54, as best seen in FIG. 6, the sheaves being rotatably mounted in any suitable manner on the frame structure 14.

FIG. 4 illustrates the manner in which the outer or upper end of each of these cables 52, after passing around its associated guide sheave 54, is secured at 55 to the upper end of one of the inner or supporting legs 11. FIG. 4 also illustrates the telescopic arrangement of each pair of legs 11, 13, with suitable hearing or guide means 56 interposed therebetween, and a leaf spring 57 secured at its upper end at 58 to the supporting leg 11 and having a wear button 59 of nylon, or the like, mounted thereon for frictional engagement with an inner surface of the associated leg 13. With this arrangement, rotations of the screw 46 will simultaneously draw the lower ends of cables 52 forwardly to raise the frame 12 relative to the inner supporting legs 11, or will permit rearward movement of the lower ends of the cables 52 to effect lowering of the frame 12 by gravity.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the three upper sprocket wheels 34, 44 and 49 are rotatably mounted in side-byside relationship on a hollow stub shaft 61 which is rotatably supported in any suitable manner at its forward end by,- and extends through, the footboard 16 adjacent the top of the latter. The inner end of this shaft 61 may be rotatably supported by a plate 62 secured by bolts 63 to the inner side of the footboard 16, and the shaft is held against forward movement relative to the plate 62 by any suitable means, such as a split lock ring 64 mounted in a suitable groove in the outer surface of the shaft adjacent its inner end. Se-

cured in the outer end of this hollow shaft 61 in any suitable manner is a hub portion 65 of a crank 66.

A control member 67 is slidably disposed within the hollow shaft 61, with the forward end thereof extending through a suitable horizontally disposed aperture in the hub portion 65 of crank 66 and having a manually engageable handle 68 forming a part thereof and secured thereto in any desired manner. The inner portion of the control member 67 is provided with a transverse aperture 69 for slidably receiving a key 71 and a guide member 72 having a coil spring 73 interposed therebetween. The guide member 72 is provided with a spring-pressed ball 74 adapted to be engaged in any one of three depressions or dimples 75 provided in the inner surface of the hollow shaft 61 spaced from each other longitudinally of the shaft and aligned, respectively, with the sprockets 34, 44 and 49.

The hollow shaft 61 also is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 76 for slidably accommodating the key 71. Each of the upper sprocket wheels 34, 44 and 49 is provided with keyways or slots 77 to receive the outer end of the key 71. These upper sprocket wheels, 34, 44 and 49, thus are selectively rotatable by the crank 66 by virtue of the latter being drivingly interconnected therewith by means of the key 71 and keyways 76, 77.

The desired selection as to which of the several actuating means is to be operated by the crank 66 is effected by movement of the control member 67 longitudinally of the shaft 61. To facilitate such selectively operable movements of the control member 67, its handle 68 may be provided with a finger-receiving aperture 78, as 'best seen in FIG. 1.

Under certain circumstances of use, a doctor may proscribe one or more of the available bed adjustments. Consequently, means are provided for selectively rendering inoperative various ones of the bed adjusting actuating means. In the embodiment herein illustrated, this means comprises a normally inoperative lock-out knob 79 vertically slidable in a suitable recess in the upper portion of the crank 66, the permitted vertical movement of which is limited by a pin 81 mounted in the crank handle and slidably engaging in a vertical groove 82 in this knob. In its upper position, the upper surface of the lock-out knob 79 is substantially flush with the upper end of the crank handle, and the lower end of the knob is provided with a depending flange 83 adapted to engage in a slot 84 in the upper surface of the handle 68 of control member 67 as shown in FIG. 2, or behind a shoulder 85 provided on the control member 67 as illustrated in FIG. 3.

It will thus be appreciated that with the look-out knob 79 in its operative position of FIG. 2, the control member 67 may not be moved and rotation of the crank 66 can rotate only the innermost sprocket wheel 49 to effect hi-low adjustments of the bed. And if the look-out knob 79 is raised to its normal inoperative position, the handle 68 of the control member 67 pulled outwardly to align the key 71 with the middle sprocket wheel 44, and the lockout knob 79 then depressed behind the shoulder 85, as shown in FIG. 3, hi-low adjustments of the bed may not be made, although selective adjustments of the spring sections may be effected. The shoulder 85 and slot 84 thus comprise shoulders spaced from each other in the direction of selective movements of the control member 67 for cooperation with the lock-out knob 79 to selectively render inoperative various ones of the sprocket wheels 34, 44, 49.

In making any selected bed adjustments, the crank 66 normally is stopped in its lowermost position. The keyways 77 and the several sprockets 34, 44 and 49 thus nor mally will be aligned with each other longitudinally of the shaft 61. However, such keyway alignment is not essential to selective repositioning of the key 71 by longitudinally moving the control member 67, since the outer end of the key 71 is somewhat rounded so the key may be cammed inwardly against the action of the spring 73 even if a keyway 77 in the sprocket wheel with which the key is desired to be aligned is not disposed in alignment with the key. The spring-urged ball 74 cooperates with the apertures 75 to indicate to the operator when the key 71 is properly aligned with the selected sprocket wheel. Subsequent rotation of the crank 66 then will permit the spring 73 to engage the key with a keyway 77 of that sprocket wheel as it is thereby brought into alignment with that keyway.

As best seen in FIG. 1, the single operating crank 66 is conveniently disposed at approximately waist height to provide for maximum ease of operation. In addition to its main or depending portion, the crank 66 is provided with a retractable handle 86 which is best illustrated in FIG. 7. This handle 86 comprises an inner tubular portion 87 pivotally connected by means of laterally extending pins 88 to the outer end portion of the crank and having its outer end reduced in diameter to slidably receive a sleeve 89, the outer surface of which forms a continuation of the outer surface of the inner portion 87. Slidably mounted in the bore of the tubular portion 87 is a plunger 91 which is connected at-its outer end at 92 in any suitable manner to the sleeve 89 and is provided at its inner end with a pin 93 normally engageable in an apertured grommet 94 mounted in the main portion of the crank 66. A coil spring 95 disposed within the tubular portion 87 urges the pin 93 rearwardly into such engagement with the grommet 94. When it is desired to fold the handle 86 into the hollowed or formed portion of the main part of the crank 66, it is necessary only to pull the sleeve 89 forwardly against the action of the spring 95 to unseat the pin 93 from the grommet 94 and swing the outer end of the handle 86 upwardly.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction, and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described and shown in the drawings being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

We claim:

1. A manually operable hospital bed, comprising supporting legs, a frame movable vertically relative to said legs and supported thereby, a first actuating means for vertically adjusting said frame relative to said legs, an articulated spring supported by said frame and having separate sections adjustably movable relative thereto, a plurality of additional actuating means each operable to adjustably move one of said sections, a single crank conveniently mounted on said frame for manual rotation, a control member selectively movable to operatively interconnect said crank with any one of said actuating means, whereby rotation of said crank may effect selective adjustments of said frame and said spring sections, said crank including a hub portion, and said control member extending through said hub portion and terminating adjacent thereto in a manually engageable handle.

2. A hospital bed, comprising supporting legs, a frame movable vertically relative to said legs and supported thereby, a first actuating means for vertically adjusting said frame relative to said legs, an articulated spring supported by said frame and having separate sections adjustably movable relative thereto, a plurality of additional actuating means each operable to adjustably move one of said sections, a single crank conveniently mounted on said frame for manual rotation, a control member selectively movable to different adjustable positions to operatively interconnect said crank with the different ones of said actuating means, whereby rotation of said crank may effect selective adjustments of said frame and said spring sections, normally inoperative lock-out means selectively movable into engagement with said control member to prevent movement thereof from or into one of its selectively adjustable positions, said crank including a hub 6 portion, said control member extending through said hub portion and terminating adjacent thereto in a manually engageable handle having a slot therein, and said lock-out means comprising a knob slidably mounted on said hub portion and provided with a flange engageable with said slot.

3. A hospital bed according to claim 2, wherein said handle has a plurality of vertically extending shoulders spaced from each other in the direction of selective movement thereof, and said lock-out means comprises a knob slidably mounted on said hub portion for selective engagement with any one of said shoulders.

4. In a manually operable hospital bed having supporting legs, a frame mounted on said legs for vertical movement relative thereto and including a vertically disposed footboard, hi-low actuating means for adjusting said frame vertically relative to said legs and including a first sprocket wheel, an articulated spring supported by said frame and having separate head and knee sections adjustably movable relative thereto, separate actuating means for adjusting each of said sections and including, respectively, second and third sprocket wheels, a shaft extending horizontally through and rotatably supported by said footboard and rotatably supporting said sprocket wheels inwardly thereof, a manually rotatable crank secured to the outer end of said shaft, and a control member associated with said shaft and having a manually engageable handle portion at its forward end and key means disposed adjacent its inner end selectively movable to operatively interconnect said shaft with any one of said sprocket wheels.

5. In a hospital bed according to claim 4, normally inoperative lock-out means selectively movable into engagement with said control member to prevent movement of said key means from or into operative connection with one of said sprocket wheels.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,713,405 7/1955 Mathews 192-48 2,807,808 10/1957 Wetzler 563 2,843,240 7/1958 Kruse 568 X 2,913,300 11/1959 Darnell et al 568 3,012,253 12/1961 Reichert 568 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Examiner. 

1. A MANUALLY OPERABLE HOSPITAL BED, COMPRISING SUPPORTING LEGS, A FRAME MOVABLE VERTICALLY RELATIVE TO SAID LEGS AND SUPPORTED THEREBY, A FIRST ACTUATING MEANS FOR VERTICALLY ADJUSTING SAID FRAME RELATIVE TO SAID LEGS, AN ARTICULATED SPRING SUPPORTED BY SAID FRAME AND HAVING SEPARATE SECTIONS ADJUSTABLY MOVABLE RELATIVE THERETO, A PLURALITY OF ADDITIONAL ACTUATING MEANS EACH OPERABLE TO ADJUSTABLY MOVE ONE OF SAID SECTIONS, A SINGLE CRANK CONVENIENTLY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME FOR MANUAL ROTATION, A CONTROL MEMBER SELECTIVELY MOVABLE TO OPERATIVELY INTERCONNECT SAID CRANK WITH ANY ONE OF SAID ACTUATING MEANS, WHEREBY ROTATION OF SAID CRANK MAY EFFECT SELECTIVE ADJUSTMENTS OF SAID FRAME AND SAID SPRING SECTIONS, SAID CRANK INCLUDING A HUB PORTION, AND SAID CONTROL MEMBER EXTENDING THROUGH SAID HUB PORTION AND TERMINATING ADJACENT THEREOF IN A MANUALLY ENGAGEABLE HANDLE. 